Italy · Chianti Hills

Fattoria Le Fonti

A small Panzano estate at 450 metres, family-owned since 1994, producing three tiers of Chianti Classico and the IGT Supertuscan Fontissimo from organically farmed Sangiovese vines.

The producer

Fattoria Le Fonti sits just below the village church of Panzano in Chianti, with about nine hectares of vines arranged in a horseshoe around the winery at 450 metres above sea level. The Schmitt-Vitali family arrived in 1994 and immediately pulled out every vine on the property, replanting with rootstocks chosen for the altitude and soil. Vicky Schmitt-Vitali now leads the estate, having taken it over from her father Konrad; her daughter Greta has joined the business to form a working three-generation operation. The estate achieved organic certification in 2019, formalising twenty-five years of careful farming.

The range covers all three tiers of the Chianti Classico DOCG hierarchy: the base Chianti Classico blending Sangiovese with small additions of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, the Riserva drawn from tighter selection with longer oak ageing, and a Gran Selezione at the top of the pyramid. Fontissimo, the estate's IGT Supertuscan, sits outside the DOCG and carries the most contested history on the property: a Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Sangiovese blend whose composition has been rewritten three times since the 1990s. Annual production is approximately 45,000 bottles.

Known for

Altitude-grown Chianti Classico from Panzano's Conca d'Oro, where 450-metre elevation preserves the sharp acidity and red-cherry character that defines the estate's Sangiovese across all three DOCG tiers.

Notable facts

The story

The Blend That Changed Its Mind

Fontissimo launched in the 1990s as a Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, the combination that was becoming a signature of ambitious Tuscan estates. In 2003, the estate added Merlot to the recipe. Then, in the 2012 and 2013 vintages, the family dropped Sangiovese from the blend entirely: Fontissimo became Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, closer to a Bordeaux-style red than a Tuscan one. Two years later, in 2014, Sangiovese came back into the bottle. No press release explained the reversal. The wine now carries all three varieties, and the Sangiovese fraction gives Fontissimo an earthy, iron-mineral thread that the purely international version did not have.

From the atlas

Fattoria Le Fonti

At A Glance

The Producer

Fattoria Le Fonti sits just below the village church of Panzano in Chianti, at 450 metres above sea level, with about nine hectares of Sangiovese vines arranged in a horseshoe around the winery. The Schmitt-Vitali family arrived in 1994 and immediately pulled out every vine on the property, replanting with rootstocks and plant material chosen for the altitude and soil. Thirty years later, Vicky Schmitt-Vitali leads the estate, having taken over from her father Konrad; her daughter Greta has joined the business, making this a working three-generation operation.

The range covers all three tiers of the Chianti Classico DOCG hierarchy and adds Fontissimo, an IGT Supertuscan whose blend has been rewritten three times since its launch in the 1990s. Annual production is approximately 45,000 bottles.

Place

Panzano in Chianti is a hill village in the Conca d'Oro, a south-facing amphitheatre of vineyards in the northern half of Chianti Classico. The Alta Valle della Greve runs below the village, and the cooler air that pools at 450 metres slows the final weeks of Sangiovese ripening. The vineyards lie in the Alta Valle della Greve at approximately 450 metres.

On a label, Panzano sits within the Chianti Classico DOCG, which covers the historic zone between Florence and Siena. Chianti Classico wines must use Sangiovese as the primary grape, and the three quality tiers, Chianti Classico, Riserva, and Gran Selezione, require progressively longer ageing before release. Panzano's altitude places it on the cooler end of the appellation, which tends to push acidity higher and deepen the colour without adding weight.

Soil And Site

The Le Fonti vineyards wrap around the winery on multiple aspects, which gives the estate some natural variation in sun exposure across the growing season. The estate sits in alberese country, the hard galestro-and-clay mix characteristic of much of Chianti Classico's better-elevated ground, though detailed parcel-level soil data for Le Fonti has not been published. What is documented is the 1994 decision to replant every vine with rootstocks selected specifically for the elevation, soil type, and local climate.

Story

When the Schmitt-Vitali family took control of the estate in 1994, they did not begin with what was already planted. They started from bare ground, replacing every vine with rootstocks chosen for the 450-metre site. The replanting took years and committed the family to a long wait before the vines could produce at the level the site promised.

Konrad Schmitt-Vitali built the first chapter. Vicky inherited an estate with maturing vines and began shaping the range. Fontissimo, which launched in the 1990s as a Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, was reformulated with Merlot in 2003, dropped Sangiovese entirely from 2012, then reintroduced it from 2014. Organic certification followed in 2019, formalising twenty-five years of careful farming.

Greta's arrival completes the arc that began when Konrad chose Panzano.

Vineyards And Cellar

The vineyards cover about nine hectares, replanted entirely since 1994 with site-selected rootstocks. Farming has been certified organic since 2019 and the estate also manages more than 1,500 olive trees on the remaining land.

Grapes are selected before they enter the cellar, and further selection happens before bottling, with only the best lots released under the Le Fonti label. The Chianti Classico spends time in oak before release; the Riserva receives longer oak ageing and greater selection from the harvest. Fontissimo is matured in barrel, which contributes to its darker, fuller character relative to the Chianti Classico range. The Gran Selezione completes the hierarchy at the top of the DOCG pyramid.

Wines

The range is built around three Chianti Classico tiers and one Supertuscan IGT.

The Chianti Classico blends Sangiovese with small additions of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. At this level the wine is the most approachable in the range: the Sangiovese gives red cherry and dried herb character, the Merlot adds a little softness to the mid-palate, and the Cabernet Sauvignon sharpens the back end. Oak is present but not the dominant note.

The Riserva takes the same Sangiovese base through longer oak ageing and tighter selection, pushing the tannin firmer and the colour deeper. This is the tier where the 450-metre acidity becomes most apparent as a structural element: the wine holds its freshness across a longer finish.

The Gran Selezione represents the top of the Chianti Classico DOCG tier. The minimum ageing requirement for this designation is the longest of the three levels, and the selection is drawn from the estate's best fruit.

Fontissimo is the estate's IGT Supertuscan, now a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Sangiovese. Barrel maturation gives it darker fruit, fuller body, and firmer oak than the Chianti Classico wines. It sits outside the DOCG system and is priced above the Riserva.

In The Glass

The Chianti Classico opens with the characteristic red cherry and iron-edged mineral note that Sangiovese produces at altitude. The palate is medium-bodied with lively acidity, moderate tannin, and a clean finish edged with dried herbs and a little leather. The Merlot fraction softens the mid-palate without blurring the grape's natural angularity.

The Riserva has more weight through the mid-palate and noticeably firmer tannin from the extended oak contact, but the underlying acidity from the 450-metre site keeps the wine from feeling heavy. The finish is longer and more savoury, with darker fruit and a mineral thread that runs from the nose through to the end.

Fontissimo is darker and fuller. Barrel maturation brings blackcurrant, cedar, and a roasted edge alongside the plum fruit from Merlot. Sangiovese's presence since 2014 adds an earthy, iron-mineral undercurrent that pulls it back toward the Tuscan character and away from a purely international profile.

A Bottle To Understand It

Start with the Chianti Classico Riserva. It is Sangiovese-led, oak-aged, and drawn from a tight selection of the estate's best fruit from that vintage. The wine is firm but not severe: the acidity from the high-altitude vines runs through it from first sniff to finish, keeping the red cherry and dried-herb fruit alive alongside the tannin. At this tier the Le Fonti house character becomes legible: altitude-fresh Sangiovese, careful selection, and oak used to frame rather than fill. It is also the most instructive step on the Chianti Classico ladder, sitting between the approachable base wine and the longer-aged Gran Selezione.

Anecdote

Fontissimo launched in the 1990s as a Sangiovese and Cabernet Sauvignon blend, the combination that was becoming a signature of ambitious Tuscan estates. In 2003, the estate added Merlot to the recipe. Then, in the 2012 and 2013 vintages, the family dropped Sangiovese from the blend entirely: Fontissimo became Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot, closer to a Bordeaux-style red than a Tuscan one. Two years later, in 2014, Sangiovese came back into the bottle. No press release explained the reversal. The wine now carries all three varieties, and the Sangiovese fraction gives Fontissimo an earthy, iron-mineral thread that the purely international version did not have.

Final Word

Fattoria Le Fonti is a compact, well-defined Panzano estate that has earned its organic status through two decades of consistent farming rather than a late marketing pivot. The Chianti Classico range gives a clean view of how altitude and Sangiovese interact in the northern half of the appellation. Fontissimo tells the messier, more interesting story of a family working out what their prestige wine should be.

Sources

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